Shelley Duncan posted a .229 BA/.306 OBP/.427 SLG/.732 OPS slash line over the course of six seasons with the Indians and Yankees respectively. With a .988 fielding percentage, and a 22.4% K%/10.6% BB%, it could be assumed that Duncan represents bench depth more than anything else.

38 year-old right-handed reliever Jamey Wright saw 67.2 innings of work last season with the Dodgers, where he posted 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 1.507 WHIP. Those he faced posted a .270 BA/.350 OBP/.326 SLG/.676 OPS slash line, with Wright inducing ground balls 67.3 percent of the time. Ahem, we all know how well ground ball pitchers do with the Rays infield.

30 year-old Juan Carlos Oviedo is coming off of a post Tommy John surgery inducing injury, while appearing in only three minor league games in 2012. You may recall that Oviedo was disciplined for identity fraud prior to last season. For what it’s worth, Oviedo has a 4.34 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in seven big league seasons. Because of his injury he’ll more than likely miss the bulk of the 2013 season. Oviedo’s deal with the Rays includes an option for the 2014 season because of it.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, “Sandoval, 32, had a 2.97 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in the Mexican League last season.”

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Rays have finally announced the date of the 2013 Fan Fest which takes place at the Trop. The popular event is scheduled for Saturday, February 16th, from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Admission and parking are free! You can find more information on Fan Fest here.

Perhaps someone should ask Nastradamus if this is what the Rays outfield will look like in 2013.

Marc Topkin noted that the Rays, “Still need a DH. Maybe another outfielder. Conceivably both,” and “The DH spot is wide open, and a free agent seems likely, though the money, of course, will be a factor as the payroll is already in the $55 million range (plus incentives) and thus unlikely to go much higher.” With Spring Training a little more than a month away, a quick peak at the free-agent market finds slim pickings to say the least.

It’s been widely speculated that the an option for the Rays would be to re-sign the likes of Luke Scott or Delmon Young, or pick up a seasoned veteran like Jim Thome. Dan Johnson, Aubrey Huff, Carlos Lee, and injury risks like Travis Hafner and Juan Rivera have been thrown around as well. With Michael Bourn’s asking price being too high along with the Rays assumed unwillingness to trade any other players, the above mentioned free-agents might be the Rays only hope.

To be honest, I’m not certain what the answer is. Will it be to platoon the DH role, akin to what Tampa Bay did last season when the Luke Scott/Carlos Pena experiment proved to be a failure? That could be a solution. Fox example, it could keep someone like Ben Zobrist in the mix on a daily basis, assuming that he’d also be splitting his time platooning in right field and at second base. Or, is it possible that Zobrist will be spending time at second base or in right exclusively, moving Matt Joyce to left field where he’d platoon with Brandon Guyer and Sam Fuld? The possibilities are wide open, yet seemingly closed.

I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty, that Luke Scott is not the answer. That boat has sailed, let him travel toward the sunset. A quick look at his advanced stats show that his strikeout percentage (K%) has been on the rise since 2009, while his walk percentage (BB%) has decreased sharply in the same span of time. What’s more, he’s not projected to be much better in 2013. Bill James projects that he’ll hit only 12 homers in a measly 277 plate appearances. I’m also inclined to believe that neither Delmon Young or Dan Johnson are the solutions to the DH conundrum. Especially not DanJo.

The question then begs: does Tampa Bay even need an established DH. Surprisingly, the answer might be no.

Bradley Woodrum of Fangraphs has suggested that the Rays offensive woes may not be as bad as many have made them out to be. He asserts that though the Rays only scored 697 runs in 2012 (fewer than in 2011), there is something to be said about the Rays being named 5th best offense in the AL, with concern to wRC+. He believes that the much maligned Tropicana Field should be seen as a pitchers stadium, similar to Safeco Field, O.co Coliseum, and AT&T Park.

If I am making it sound like the Rays play in one of the most pitcher-friendly, hitter-mean parks in the league, then good. They do. Since 2008, the Trop has consistently ranked among the top five ballparks in suppressing run scoring, so when they plate less than 700 runs in a season, it is not necessarily a red flag.

…finally

As Dave Studeman recently noted, the Rays had one of the best run differentials in the league and under-performed to the tune of 5 wins — the gap, we should note, between them and the first-place Yankees. But since their hitters have such a high strikeout rate (21.7%) and low BABIP (.284) — both consistent trends since 2008 — pitchers with solid control and home run suppressing talent can often avoid the team’s biggest snares: drawing walks, stealing bases, and hitting homers (10th best HR-rate in 2012, 9th best since 2008).

That said, the San Francisco Giants (you know, the lil old team that won the World Series) scored only 21 more runs than the Rays in 2012. It bears mentioning that they scored fewer runs than the Cardinals, Rangers, Brewers, Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox and Diamondbacks.

It’s all but certain that Wil Myers will be a Ray by July. Though his potential impact is incalculable at the moment, it can be assumed that he will have a positive effect on Tampa Bay in 2013. In the end, Myers is projected to eventually be better than BJ Upton. Then there’s Yunel Escobar.

Whatever your opinion may be, Escobar is a 103 wRC+ hitter who can improve the Rays shortstop production. He’s projected to post a .304 BABIP/.276 BA/.344 OBP/.377 SLG/.317 wOBA line in 2013, while driving in 71 RBI. It can also be assumed that Ryan Roberts will come closer to, if not exceed, his established norms with more playing time. Roberts is projected to improve across the board as it relates to BABIP, batting average, on base percentage, slugging, and OPS. Additionally, it’s also been projected that his K% will drop by one percentage point, while his BB% is projected to increase by two percentage points, making him an even greater asset in the lineup

I’d also contend that the Rays infield looks significantly better in 2013 than it did in 2012. Tampa Bay committed 114 errors in 2012, more than any other team in the AL. Most of those errors were attributed to an infield that struggled to come to grips with the loss of Evan Longoria and the surprisingly unreliable Carlos Pena. The Rays gave up 59 unearned runs on the backs of those 114 errors. It can argued that with a healthier, more solid infield, the number of errors and unearned runs will drop, helping the Rays in the run differential column.

This is not to say nor imply, that Tampa Bay should suspend their search for someone to fill the DH position. Jim Thome is hungry for a ring, and could be an asset to the roster because of it, especially if he can be signed on the cheap. However, potentially platooning the DH role might not be the end of the world, or the end of a Rays playoff run, in 2013.

Left to right (ahem, not shortest to tallest): Matt Joyce, Sam Fuld, Jeff Niemann, and Ryan Roberts

January 18, 2013 was the deadline to exchange filing numbers with their arbitration eligible players. The Rays had four players (Matt Joyce, Ryan Roberts, Sam Fuld, and Jeff Niemann) that were arbitration eligible. Now that the deadline has come to pass, we’re pleased as peach to announce that the Rays have avoided arbitration with the aforementioned players. The details are below.

Jeff Niemann: Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweeted that the Rays have avoided arbitration with the tall RHP, signing Niemann to a one-year, $3MM contract.

Sam Fuld: Marc Topkin of the Times has reported that the Rays have avoided arbitration with Sam Fuld, agreeing to a one-year, $725K deal.

One of the gang. Wil Myers during the winter development camp. [Photo by James Borchuck/Tampa Bay Times)

There haven’t been many groundbreaking revelations fit to report on this week. That said, today I get to play the game of lazy journalist/internet aggregator, regaling you (read: bombarding) with pertinent links and of tasty nuggets to chew on. Here goes:

On Wil Myers: Monday marked the beginning of the Rays Winter Development Camp, where many of the top prospects convene beneath the big top to sharpen their skills, etc. Rays uber prospects, Taylor Guerrieri and Wil Myers, were among the 30 prospects that attended the camp. “When I was traded it didn’t feel any different to me,” Myers said Tuesday. “But now finally being here, obviously having new stuff on, it’s really exciting to be part of this trade.” The Shields/Davis trade being the one mentioned above.

On testing positive for foreign substances: We also heard tell of another Rays prospect that was/will be suspended for alleged drug-related issues. The unnamed player was the seventh within the Rays farm system to be suspended in the last year. Yeesh. The Rays Executive VP Andrew Friedman addressed the subject saying, “Obviously we’re disappointed in the number of suspensions.” and “we have to remember that these are young kids and as much as you try to educate them, mistakes will happen. The important part is that they learn from them. We will tolerate guys making mistakes, we’ll talk through it again, and it’s incumbent upon them to learn from their mistakes and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

On Josh Sale: Speaking of suspended Rays prospects, It was reported that the recently suspended OF Josh Sale still does not understand how he tested positive for a foreign substance, resulting in a 50-game suspension. He still has 40 games left to serve, and reportedly will participate in spring training while staying in extended spring for the first six weeks of the 2013 minor-league season.

On arbitration: The Rays are hoping to settle the outstanding arbitration cases with Sam Fuld, Ryan Roberts, Matt Joyce, and Jeff Niemann before Friday’s deadline.

On acquiring another bat in the lineup: Shocker, the Rays are still looking to bolster the offense with another bat. Friedman noted that they’re looking for either a primary DH or a player with positional flexibility. They’ll more than likely seek someone out through free agency rather than through trade.

On Mike Morse: We wrote about Mike Morse a week ago. More so, we wrote how he could be a candidate to fill the Rays right-handed first base needs. MLB Trade Rumors reported that, “The Red Sox talked to the Nationals about Mike Morse but Washington’s asking price was too high.” I’d reckon that if he’s too expensive for them, we may as well kiss any prospects of him joining the Rays goodbye. Back to the drawing board.

On David Price:According to Fox Sports John Paul Morosi, “David Price‘s one-year deal with the Rays was structured in a way that both saved Price several hundred thousand dollars in taxes and also gave the Rays the ability to potentially save $4MM in salary deferred to Price in 2014 if the southpaw is dealt by then.”

On Zorilla, Rodey, Peralta, and Molina: ESPN is reporting that four Rays will be representing the US (Zobrist), Puerto Rico (Molina, along with his brother Yadier), and the Dominican Republic (Rodney and Peralta) respectively, in the World Baseball Classic. The WBC is slated to begin March 7.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a big fan of Noah Pransky. He, by way of his blog the Shadow of the Stadium, consistently calls things like he sees them. Pransky offers an important and valuable counter voice to those that think the only reasonable solution to the Rays stadium saga is a brand new water-front facility in downtown Tampa.

His pieces (more times than not) make strides in getting others to remember that this topic, along with others, are not solely black and white issues, and elicit objective discussion.

Pranksy wrote a piece today titled, Tribune Misleads on Stadium Saga, where he asserts that though it may not have been intentional, one little snippet from a Tampa Tribune article may have been enough to shape others opinions on the stadium saga.

Noah goes on to question the assertion of the economic feasibility of a new facility on either side of the bay, while also arguing that the ABC Coalition included the Gateway region in St. Petersburg as a potential site for a new facility, along with other sites in Hillsborough; a fact that was conveniently glossed over in the Tribune, potentially swaying readers in believing that the only solution is to break ground across the bay. Well done, Noah!

I highly recommend reading Pransky’s article and following his blog. If you are like us and would rather have a productive argument, I can’t think of a better place to start.